McHenry County man arrested over e-mail threat to county official

A McHenry County man apparently upset over the amount of court fees he's been paying on old criminal cases may be in line for a lot more after his arrest Monday on allegations he sent a threatening e-mail to Circuit Clerk Katherine Keefe.

James H. Day, 55, of Harvard, faces a charge of threatening a public official stemming from an e-mail police say he sent to Keefe on Saturday.

According to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday, the e-mail contained a threat that "placed (Keefe) in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future bodily harm or damage to her property."

Day made no effort to hide his identity in the e-mail, and even included a case number for the matter over which he was unhappy, McHenry County Sheriff's Sgt. Michael Cisner said.

"He didn't like the outcome of a court case that happened prior to the threat, and was very unhappy with the court fees associated with the proceeding," Cisner added.

According to court records, Day owed court fees to the county on two recent cases: a conviction in May on a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge and a 2008 conviction for unlawful defrauding of a drug and alcohol screening test, which is a felony.

After his arrest Monday, Day was transferred to the McHenry County jail, where he spent the night before posting $1,500 bond and going free Tuesday morning. He is scheduled to return to court Thursday on the new charge, a Class 3 felony punishable by a maximum two to five years in prison or probation.